In Vivo And In Vitro Regulation Of Pituitary Follicle-stimulating Hormone (fsh) Secretion By 3alpha-hydroxy-4-pregnen-20-one (3hp): A Highly Sensitive And Specific Inhibitor

The effect of the gonadal steroid, 3{dollar}\alpha{dollar}-hydroxy-4-pregnen-20-one (3HP), is intact and castrate rats and in primary cultures of rat anterior pituitary cells and the possible interaction of 3HP with the signal transduction pathways of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) was examined.;Intact or gonadectomized, male or female, prepubertal or adult rats treated with 3HP (0-200 {dollar}\mu{dollar}g/100 g BW; 1-4 days) showed a selective reduction in serum FSH levels (25%-60%) without any apparent effect on serum LH levels. The FSH-suppressing effect of 3HP was found to be dose-related, suggesting that 3HP action may be physiological. 3HP was effective in young male rats (10 d) and gonadectomized adult male rats, where 3HP showed its greatest suppression of serum FSH. Comparison of the effect of 3HP with that of some of its metabolites or other gonadal steroids showed that only 3HP had a selective FSH-suppressing effect.;In vitro, 3HP selectively inhibited the basal and LHRH-induced secretion of FSH, with no effect on LH secretion, in cells from both male and female rats. Inhibition of FSH secretion by 3HP was dose-dependent with the doses as low as 10{dollar}\sp{lcub}-16{rcub}{dollar} to 10{dollar}\sp{lcub}-14{rcub}{dollar}M exhibiting significant FSH-suppressing activity (by 35%). The cell content of FSH was unaffected by 3HP suggesting that synthesis, as well as release, of FSH is depressed by 3HP. As in the in vivo studies, none of the 18 other steroids tested, nor inhibin, had a similar selective FSH-suppressing action. It was concluded that FSH suppression by 3HP is specific to the structure of this molecule and that even minor alterations in the structure result in a loss of activity.;The effect of 3HP on the calcium signal and protein kinase C (PKC) activation produced by LHRH was examined in vitro. In experiments employing the calcium ionophore, A23187, FSH secretion, but not LH secretion, was stimulated beyond the level produced by LHRH alone. Furthermore, although stimulated by calcium, it appears that FSH, but not LH, secretion is relatively calcium-independent and will occur in the absence of elevated calcium as revealed by treatment with the calcium channel antagonists, verapamil and nifedipine. The evidence suggests that 3HP acts to modify the FSH response to the calcium signalling pathway and that 3HP action of LHRH-induced FSH secretion might occur via an increase in the requirement of FSH secretion for calcium. Inhibition of PKC activity does not mimic the effect of 3HP. However, the inhibition of FSH release brought about the 3HP can be lessened by the activation of PKC. The activity of 3HP may also be due in part of down-regulation of the FSH gene. These studies have provided insight into the mechanism of 3HP action and further studies may help to completely elucidate this mechanism

Variations in access to domestic water supply in EN Nahud district, Sudan

The central aim of this thesis is to develop an understanding of variation in access to domestic water supply in a semi-arid, non-riverain area of Sudan. En Nahud District, in North Kordofan Province, was selected for study because it has existing water supply problems and contains distinct spatial variations in geology, which affects the potential for development of underground water resources. Fieldwork in Sudan was carried out between July and December 1988, and information was collected from a range of sources using a variety of methods. The latter included: semi-structured household interviews conducted with women; key informant interviews; observation; and various published and unpublished articles and data sets. In the thesis, the first chapter introduces the national and international context of this study. Past and present water supply development policies and projects in the Sudan are outlined, and set against the goals of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. In the second chapter, the research methodology is discussed. Attempt was made to overcome the several spatial, temporal social and economic biases which have occurred in other studies. In the third chapter, the thesis is placed in the physical and socio-economic context of the Province, and the dynamic relationship between water supply and demand is outlined. The following three chapters focus upon the primary constraints which limit access to domestic water supply: water availability; at-source costs; and transportation costs. The components of each, and the way in which they operate to restrict access, are investigated in relation to varying family resources and requirements. The borrowing of carriage resources and the purchase of transportation services are examined as strategies for overcoming families' internal collection-capacity constraints. Finally, seasonal outmigration is discussed as an important response to inadequate access to water supply. In its conclusion, this thesis shows clearly the importance of examining access to water at the family scale: inter-household variations, such as the ownership of carriage animals and varying labour resources, are shown to be influential in affecting household water supply strategies

Interacting with television : morning talk-TV and its communicative relationship with women viewers

This thesis presents a unique interdisciplinary approach to gender and mass communication within the field of media and cultural studies. It evolves from a trend in media research that understands broadcasting as a communicative event which involves the creation of new and different forms of social action and interaction in a modem world (Meyrowitz, 1985; Thompson, 1995; Scannell, 1989; 1991; Moores, 2000). It investigates women's involvement with television discourse concentrating on morning talk programming in Britain which presents a concentration of talk shows and magazine programmes. These programmes are chosen specifically because in dealing with issues that are usually contained within the personal and private domain they often privilege the voices of 'ordinary' people and women in particular. It is argued that their personalised stylistic features produce textual strategies which position the viewer as also 'participator'. The research also involves a, broadly speaking, 'ethnographic' approach, viewing programmes with women in their homes and recording their responses alongside the text. This original methodology produces an analysis of text/audience interaction that concentrates on the motivation of a particular style of 'feminine' discourse, which can articulate the personal and private. As such, I emphasise the importance of the women's voices in the construction of the viewing experience which uniquely establishes a 'mediated conversational floor'. The research finds that through the interaction encouraged by the texts, the women respond producing their own relevant subjective experience that is significant as a modern phenomenon of self-reflexivity and identity construction

Progress towards the realization of a national drama as seen in the Pulitzer prize plays

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1939. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Mobile technology platforms for flexible access to information resources : considerations in the use of ebook readers, smart phones, netbooks and iPads

Smart phones are everywhere, people are taking eBook readers on holiday, the iPad has queues of people wanting to buy one, and some netbooks can fit in a pocket. The technology is attractive and increasingly affordable – how can it help an individual in their access to and use of texts, journals, databases, clinical sources, the web and day-to-day information? The Library has been investigating and trialling mobile devices during 2010, and has received interesting feedback from staff and students on the effectiveness of the technology in the University and personal environments. Each device has its strengths and weaknesses depending on the needs of the individual or activity it is supporting – productivity, research, study, clinical or recreational. The presentation will explore these issues along with some of the practical implications at Deakin, and international experiences in academic environments

Role of the host cell in bacteriophage T4 development. II. Characterization of host mutants that have pleiotropic effects on T4 growth

Mutant host-defective Escherichi coli that fail to propagate bacteriophage T4 and have a pleiotropic effect on T4 development have been isolated and characterized. In phage-infected mutant cells, specific early phage proteins are absent or reduced in amount, phage DNA synthesis is depressed by about 50%, specific structural phage proteins, including some tail and collar components, are deficient or missing, and host-cell lysis is delayed and slow. Almost all phage that can overcome the host block carry mutantions that map in functionally undefined 'nonessential' regions of the T4 genome, most near gene 39. The mutant host strains are temperature sensitive for growth and show simultaneous reversion of the ts phenotype and the inability to propagate T4+. The host mutations are cotransduced with ilv (83 min) and may lie in the gene for transcription termination factor rho

The Labour of Transformation and Circuits of Value ‘around’ Reality Television

Drawing on recent research from a project which included both textual and audience research, this paper will explore the involvement of women viewers with 'reality' TV as 'circuits of value'. These relationships cannot be adequately described as deconstructions of representations as in a text-reader framework of media theory. Rather, we examine these relationships as an extended social realm, whereby the immanent structure of reality television generates emotional connections to the labouring undertaken by participants on the programmes. 'Reality' television develops different traditions of women’s genres from melodrama, magazines to lifestyle television, it drawing attention to those who need transformation. By promoting different forms of women’s emotional, appearance and domestic labour, it parallels broader political shifts to an 'affective economy'. Rather than these texts producing wholly divisive moral reactions in viewers, we noticed how our audience participants assessed the forms of labour performed through their different classed resources, made judgements through pursuing connections with their own lives, and ultimately tended to value care over condemnation